


more than lies

by plainclothesdisaster



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-09 22:59:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10423710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plainclothesdisaster/pseuds/plainclothesdisaster
Summary: When the three of them walked into her chambers for the first time (well, first at least by their memory) she didn’t flinch.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Believe it or not I wrote this right after ep 58, not ep 59. Didn't post it here then because it was just a drabble based on a theory yet to be confirmed but... I'm surprised at how well it holds up. :^)

When the three of them walked into her chambers for the first time (well, first at least by their memory) she didn’t flinch.

Of course it was them. She had been a fool, though a hopeful one, to think she’d never see them again. A clean break would have been easiest. But after months of futile effort, of losing reclaimer after reclaimer to the quest for the relics, it seemed her plan was proving less achievable than she thought.

To think that anyone besides the seven of them would have a real hope at recovering the relics without succumbing to their thrall had been her first mistake. To think that the hands of fate would not have pushed them all back toward each other, despite her doing everything in her power to ensure otherwise, was another. And now here they were, at her doorstep, after she’d worked so hard to rid herself of them forever.

The immediate sense of warmth, the feeling of relief that rose up in her upon seeing them as they walked into her hall– it made her stomach turn. She quashed that down immediately. No. She couldn’t let herself slip like that. Those were feelings of the past. She’d made her choice. She had to be cautious with them here, so close.

They wouldn’t remember her of course. They couldn’t possibly remember, she’d made sure of it. But by some kind of cosmic magnetism, the three of them had found each other again. That unsettled her, even though the more they spoke the more she was certain they remembered nothing of who they truly were. The voidfish’s power was infallible but yet she still felt a cold doubt twisting in her stomach. This was dangerous. This was risky.

This was possibly her only real hope of succeeding.

Her only choice was to keep them close. As they were now, stripped of their memories and power, they were just three lost boys in way over their heads. She would be careful. She would tell them who to trust, and more importantly, who not to. And she would make them listen, finally, after all those times they didn't.

The thought gave her a cold thrill as she tightened her fingers around her white oak staff. Finally, finally she was the one calling the shots. This time she could be the one to fix everything.

Still, she couldn’t even force herself to smile. Was what it took to get here really worth it?

Looking down at the faces of her friends- no, her employees- so oblivious, so earnest, so full of vigor, she pushed away those doubts. She had her reasons for doing what she did. There was much more at stake than broken friendships. Now was not the time for sentiments. Now was not the time for regrets.

She had a job to do. And now she had the three perfect tools to do it.


End file.
